JP2006172464A - Method, system and program for screen-saver window breakthrough by prioritized message - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and the like for providing a screen-saver breakthrough by prioritized messages. <P>SOLUTION: If the screen-saver is active in the display, the window manager determines if the alert issuing application and alert type are permitted to breakthrough the screen-saver. If so, an alert notification window identifying the content of the alert is generated and displayed in z-order on top of the screen-saver, without interrupting the operation of the screen-saver displayed underneath. Some notification windows implement security features by displaying only a portion of the content of the corresponding alert or completely obscuring the content of the alert and only notifying of the presence of the alert. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates generally to information processing systems, and more specifically to a method and system for providing computer notification of priority messages.

  All major operating system computer desktop environments support multi-threaded processing and multiple window displays. Separately running computer processes or applications are represented in a separate desktop window by a graphical interface. Many users try to maximize the available display space by using a large monitor, or in some cases using multiple monitors to display multiple overlapping windows on the display.

  A screen saver window for a computer workstation can be manually or automatically provided to the computer user if the computer user is absent or inactive at the workstation for some time. Provides a means to cover the display. In operation, the screen saver window presents an attractive pattern or image that is displayed repeatedly until the display is blanked, or until the user is typically engaged with the computer. Screen saver window functionality is satisfactory to cover the entire display, but there are certain types of information that the user wants to continue to monitor or monitor while the screen saver window is active. . Specifically, there are certain priority messages and notifications that are preferably received or otherwise hidden by a screen saver window. For example, it may be desirable for a user to view an instant message window, a new email subject, severe weather alerts, stock quote information or alerts, etc., temporarily or permanently. Unfortunately, in the screen saver window functionality currently given to modern computer systems, the priority message generated by executing a process that is communicating new, possibly immediate response information, is: It is hidden from view by the screen saver window and cannot be monitored by the user.

Authorized priority alerts are allowed to “pop up” on top of the screen saver without suspending the operation of the screen saver running on the computer display. The window manager monitors priority alerts from the application. If a screen saver is active in the display, the window manager determines whether the application issuing the alert and the type of alert are allowed to break through the screen saver. . If allowed, an alert notification window identifying the content of the alert is generated, and in the z-order at the top of the screen saver without interrupting the screen saver operation displayed below. Is displayed. Some notification windows implement security features by displaying only a portion of the content of the corresponding alert or by completely covering the alert content and notifying only the presence of this alert. An additional security feature requires the user to enter a password in the notification window before the alert content or type is displayed.

The present invention can be expressed as follows. That is, the present invention is a method applied to a data processing system including a display device, and requires that alert information be displayed on the display device while a screen saver window is displayed on the display device. Receiving an alert from a process; and displaying a notification window indicating the alert over the display of the screen saver window on the display device.

The present invention can also be expressed as follows. That is, the present invention is a method applied to a data processing system capable of displaying a plurality of windows in a superimposed manner on a display device, the first step of displaying a screen saver window on the display device, and the screen In response to a specific request to the data processing system during the display of the saver window, the screen saver window and a specific window corresponding to the specific request are displayed on the display device. And a second step.

Here, the specific window may be displayed over the screen saver window. The specific window may be popped up on the screen saver window.

The specific window may include (1) the fact that the specific request has been made, and (2) the fact that the specific request has been made, and does not include the content of the specific request. (3) The content of the specific request may be included, and (4) a part of the content of the specific request may be included. Further, the specific window may receive an input of user authentication.

Further, (1) prior to the second step, the method may further include a step of determining whether or not a request made to the data processing system is the specific request. (2) Prior to the second step, The method may further include a step of determining a display item corresponding to the request, and the second step may include displaying the display item in the specific window. (3) Prior to the second step, The method may further include a step of determining a corresponding display format, and the second step may display the specific window based on the display format.

  The request may be (1) a process executed on the data processing system, or (2) a request from an application program executed on the data processing system. Further, (2A) the application program is a mail client program, the request is a notification of a new mail, the subject window of the new mail is included in the specific window, and the content of the new mail is not included (2B) The application program is a word processor program, the request is an inquiry as to whether or not to save a sentence created or edited by the word processor program, and the specific window includes a user And (2C) the application program is a web browser program, and the request is a display of stock price information included in the web page. The stock price information is included in the specific window. (2D) The application program is an instant messenger program, the request is a notification of a message, the specific window includes the message, and the content of the message is It may not be included.

Further, the present invention is a data processing system capable of displaying a plurality of windows in a superimposed manner on a display device, the first means for displaying a screen saver window on the display device, and the screen saver window A second means for displaying the screen saver window and the specific window corresponding to the specific request on the display device in response to the specific request to the data processing system during the display; It is also a system equipped with.

Further, the information processing apparatus further includes storage means for storing the specific request and the specific window in association with each other, and the second means displays the specific window corresponding to the specific request by referring to the storage means. You may let them. Further, (1) the storage means stores the specific request and the display item in association with each other, and the second means includes the display item in the specific window by referring to the storage means. (2) The storage unit stores the specific request and the display format in association with each other, and the second unit refers to the storage unit to display the specific window. You may display based on the said display format.

In addition, the present invention provides a computer capable of displaying a plurality of windows including a screen saver window on a display device in a superimposed manner, while displaying the screen saver window. It is also a computer program that realizes a function of displaying the screen saver window and a specific window corresponding to the specific request on the display device in response to the request.

  In accordance with the present invention, improved methods, systems, and products for providing alert notifications to a data processing system are disclosed. In one embodiment of the present invention, while a screen saver window is displayed on the display device of the data processing system, the window manager receives an alert from a process that requires the display device to display alert information. Monitor the receipt. The window manager displays a notification window indicating the alert in z-order above the display of the screen saver window on the display device, and the screen saver window displays the notification device's display during the display of the notification window. Continue to work to cover at least a portion. In one embodiment, the window manager determines whether processes and alerts are authorized to break through the screen saver window before displaying the notification window.

  All objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description.

  The present invention will be described in preferred embodiments in the following description with reference to the drawings in which like numerals represent the same or similar elements.

  Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, a computer system 101 is typically a processor system configured to contain processor circuitry in conjunction with other computer devices and subsystems of the computer system 101. A unit 103 is included. The computer system 101 further includes a monitor unit 105 (which may be a CRT, liquid crystal display, flat panel, or other display device), a keyboard 107, and a mouse or pointing device 109, which are All are interconnected with the illustrated computer system. In addition, a connector 111 is shown configured to connect a modem or network card in the computer system to a communication line such as a telephone line, cable, or other communication medium. Connector 111 may further be implemented in a cellular or other wireless network.

  Some of the major components of the system 101 are shown in the block diagram of FIG. The processor circuit 201 is connected to a system bus 203, which can be any host system bus. The processing method disclosed herein can be applied to many different bus and / or network configurations. A cache memory device 205 and a system memory unit 207 are also connected to the bus 203. The modem 209 is configured to be connected to a communication line such as a telephone line by the connector 111 (FIG. 1). The modem 209 in this example selectively allows the computer system 101 to establish a communication link and initiate communication with another computer system or with a network or database server. The modem 209 can be, for example, an analog, digital subscriber network, or cable modem.

  The system bus 230 is further connected to a keyboard 213 and a mouse or pointing device 215 by an input interface circuit 211. The bus 203 is further coupled to a network interface subsystem 217 and a diskette drive unit 219. A video subsystem 220, which can include a graphics subsystem, is connected to the display device 221. A storage device 218, which can include a hard drive unit and / or an optical CD, is also coupled to the bus 203. The diskette drive unit provides a means by which individual diskette programs can be loaded onto or accessed directly on the hard drive for selective execution by the computer system 101. As is well known, a program diskette containing an application program represented by a magnetic indicator on the diskette can be read from the diskette drive, and the computer system reads such a magnetic indicator and sends a program signal. It is selectively operable to create. Such a program signal is useful for causing the computer system to present a display on the screen of the display device and to selectively respond to user input according to the functional flow of the application program on the diskette.

  In general, an implementation computer system can include multiple processors in a multi-bus system in a network of similar systems. However, in the exemplary embodiment, a workstation or computer system that implements the present invention is generally known in the art and is comprised of electronic components and circuits generally known to those skilled in the art. And details of the computer system beyond that shown in FIG. 2 need to be presented in order to understand and recognize the underlying concepts of the present invention so as not to obscure or mislead the teachings of the present invention. It is not specified beyond the range considered to be.

  In FIG. 3, a functional block diagram of a user interface system implemented as part of or in conjunction with a software operating environment within exemplary system 101 is shown. As will be appreciated, although software embodiments are disclosed, those skilled in the art will further understand that the functions performed by the user interface system are further dependent on the complete hardware environment of the electronic components and circuits, or It will be appreciated that a combination of these environments can be implemented, including parts of both the hardware and software environments. In this exemplary software operating environment, one or more applications and software modules, including a user interface system, include various modules and components known in the art as operating systems. Interact. In addition, the various modules and components of the operating system are interfaced with each other. Finally, modules and components may be hardware present on a computer system by what is known in the art as a device driver module and / or by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) adaptation layer. Is interfaced with. Certain device drivers, modules, and applications identified in FIG. 3 control user interface devices in computer system 101. These are loaded into the system / cache memory 205/207, executed by the processor 201, and managed by a computer operating system (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the user interface software system includes a window management module 311 to implement the breakthrough function of the screen saver window provided in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The user interface software system further includes a trackball device driver 301 coupled between the mouse trackball device (not shown) and the trackball interpretation module 303. The trackball device may be a movable mouse riding on the trackball, or it may be a fixed base unit for a trackball mounted on the base. The output of the trackball interpretation module 303 provides a trackball input signal to a window management module (WMM) 311. The trackball input signal represents user input from the mouse / pointing device 109. Keyboard 107 is coupled by keyboard device driver 305 and keyboard interpretation module 307 to provide input to WMM 311. A communication (COMM) device driver 313 couples the modem 209 to the COMM interpretation module 315 which in turn provides input to the WMM 311. The internal disk or diskette drive 317 is operable to run the disk and diskette application 319 and provide application input to the WMM 311.

  The WMM 311 is a process that runs on an operating system. In Linux, this is the X window system. The application calls the window manager's application programming interface (API) that allows the input / output of data to the screen. In order to address the needs of many different applications, operating systems typically provide such APIs so that processes can access a wide variety of functions common to many different applications. To do. Any one application generally uses only a small subset of available APIs. Providing a wide variety of APIs eliminates the need for application developers to write code that may need to be copied for each application.

  WMM 311 coordinates the screen data stream from various devices and applications to present regular window information on display device 221. The WMM 311 generates a display graphic on a flat panel or other display device 221 by providing an input signal to a display device driver 321 connected to the display device 221 in the exemplary diagram. WMM 311 has a number of internal subroutines to achieve its full functionality. As part of integrating keyboard, mouse, application, and modem (eg, Internet) input, WMM 311 must act as a window manager for the system, and handles many other functions. Among other things, it must deal with window creation, window movement, window iconification, window resizing, window z-ordering, and "focusing the window" (ie, activating it). In order to manage these windows efficiently, the WMM 311 is called a “table of all windows” that identifies whether all windows are displayed or “iconified” for a particular session. You need to maintain a database.

  The screen saver window function can be generated by the operating system, by the application, or directly by the WMM 311. When the “screen saver window” function is activated, WMM 311 prevents any process from displaying data on the display. In addition, some of the devices that interface with WMM 311 are hidden, while other devices continue to function and display the image of the window sent to WMM 311 even if the screen is “locked” by the screen saver window function. Can be updated and the display is not updated or changed in response to the update while the screen saver window is running.

  In all modern operating systems (Linux, UNIX, Windows), multiple user identifiers are used for privilege separation. In UNIX / Linux, the strongest user is a “root” user, and in Windows, it is an “administrator”. The most important process that requires high privileges runs as the “root” user. If the particular software running in the system has an urgent message to the user, the system window manager will allow the user to display the application at the top of the stack window in the display. Allows the window to “pop up” on top of the z-order window mechanism. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a particular application displays a notification window at the top of the z-ordering, even above the display created by the screen saver window running on the display. Allow.

  As shown in FIG. 4, table 400 is an exemplary table of all windows of the computer, with information regarding the nickname, z-order, and pixel XY limits when each window is on the display. Contains information about the contents of each window present on the display. Each entry for a window further includes a window identifier or “nickname”, which is usually the same as or similar to the identifier or “nickname” commonly found on a window activation button or “pull-down bar”. Is. The user can also change the XY coordinates of each window in the display by moving or resizing the window around the screen. A software function (such as an application running on a computer system) that creates or modifies the contents of each window creates or modifies the actual pixel display values identified in table 400. In order to perform this function correctly, these software functions must always first obtain XY coordinate data from the table 400. From these XY coordinates, the height and width of the window can be derived. The actual table is much more complex, but in this example the screen is shown as a 100 × 100 matrix. The last column of each entry for a window is the disk location of the last saved copy for that window.

  The entries in the table in FIG. 4 result in the exemplary screen display shown in FIG. As the highest level z-order (ie, “1” in the exemplary table 400), a “fax viewer” window 509 is displayed at the top of all other windows. In addition to other windows other than iconized applications (eg, currently email applications are iconified) shown as icons (not shown) in the display rather than as separate windows. The display order is also defined by their z-order. The user can change the z-order and XY coordinates of any input item by clicking with the mouse or taking actions such as “drag” and “resize” functions of the window. Table 400 always includes one default entry that describes the background layer for the entire screen display, which is always locked to the bottom of the z-order by WMM 311. All active windows are displayed on the background of the user's display, even if the background is focused (ie, activated) by the user clicking on the background.

  When the screen saver window is activated on the display, the currently displayed window is replaced with a static or dynamic image, animation, or possibly a blank (black) screen. An event in the system triggers WMM 311 to suspend the screen saver window and redisplay the current screen. This event is usually some kind of input by the user, such as moving the mouse or hitting a key on the keyboard. In the preferred embodiment, these events are sensed by the trackball interpretation module 303 and the keyboard interpretation module 307 and communicated to the WMM 311 which in turn cancels the screen saver window display generated by the display device driver 321. And set the current screen again as determined by table 400. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, another type of event communicated to WMM 311 is an interrupt driven by an application or process running within the computer system. If the WMM 311 receives an application interrupt while the screen saver window is activated, the WMM 311 will first screen under the breakthrough policy of the currently configured screen saver window. Determine if saver window breakthrough is allowed for a particular application interrupt and if so, WMM 311 will not suspend the screen saver window display behind the alert window, Proceed to notify the user of the event by displaying a particular alert notification window in the z-order at the top of the screen saver window. In other words, the screen saver window continues to be displayed and operates on the monitor as usual to block the current screen display, but the priority message is displayed above the screen saver window.

  Referring now to FIG. 6, there is shown an individual screen option screen called “Create Breakthrough Settings for Screen Saver Window” given to the user, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. This optional screen allows the user to select configuration parameters for a particular window when a particular alert event occurs while the screen saver window is active. Specific application or process settings are identified by nicknames. When initially selected, the “Create Screen Saver Window Breakthrough Settings” option menu automatically reads the nickname entry for each process or application currently running in the data processing system. . The user indicates an application that is allowed to “push” or pop the screen saver window as a “breakthrough application”. In each breakthrough application, the user identifies the types of alerts that are allowed to break through, and for each such alert, the user can see the alert or event on the screen saver window in the display. You can specify a "notification window style" that identifies how it will be displayed at the layer.

  In addition, other options in the screen saver window breakthrough settings allow the user to more specifically control the alerts and events that can be or are rejected by the priority message. Can be specified. For example, “Create a breakthrough setting for a screen saver window” can explicitly allow or deny entry of a particular application running under a particular user or group. In addition, this setting allows alert breakthrough permissions to be specified above a given security level, regardless of which application generated the alert. In addition, a notification window style or notification window behavior can also be configured. For example, the notification window may periodically move around the screen or may have some other dynamic feature for notification possibilities. This setting also generates a special alert that breaks through the screen saver window and provides a security feature that informs the user that the alert is being processed but the content of the alert has not been disclosed. Can be included. In this embodiment, in order to authenticate a user as being authorized to receive the alert before the actual alert is displayed on the screen saver window, the alert either enters the password or Request to provide some other mechanism. These various alternative embodiments are included as additional settings in the “Create Breakthrough Settings for Screen Saver Window” screen, but not all such settings are shown.

  After being set on the screen of FIG. 6, the user's options are saved as the screen saver window breakthrough settings in table 700, as seen in FIG. The table 700 need only be created once by the user, but can be updated whenever the user deems appropriate. When creating the table 700 from the settings screen of FIG. 6, the user also adds an application “nickname” in column 702 for an application that is not currently displayed on the screen or is not running in the system. Can be specified. Later, by running these applications in the operating system, the application window data is loaded into the table 400, and according to the application settings in the table 700, the application alert screen saver window breakthrough. The process will be activated.

  The operation of WMM 311 will now be described in conjunction with FIGS. 7 and 8 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. After an inactivity period or upon user activation, WMM 311 overrides the current screen display on the computer system and activates its screen saver window function. Depending on user settings, the screen saver window can either blank the screen, or replace some other type of static or dynamic screen instead of the window and other graphical user interfaces displayed on the screen. The target image is displayed on the screen. Following activation of the screen saver window, WMM 311 continues to monitor alerts or notifications generated by processes running in the system. Upon receiving such a notification, WMM 311 accesses an entry 702 in table 700 that matches the nickname of the application or process issuing the notification. If this application is designated as a breakthrough application (704), WMM 311 compares the received notification event with priority alert 706 as specified in table 700. If the notification event matches the priority alert there, such an alert is allowed to penetrate the screen saver window. Notification window style 708 specifies the format and type of notification window displayed at the top of the screen saver window. The WMM 311 interpolates information presented by the received notification and generates a notification window therefrom according to the notification window format 708. WMM 311 then instructs the displayed device driver 321 to display the generated notification window in the z-order at the top of the screen saver window display. This notification window is then displayed to the user at the top of the screen saver window, which continues to be displayed without interruption.

  FIG. 8 shows an exemplary screen shot of a display 501 that implements a breakthrough function of a screen saver window for priority messages, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen in the example of FIG. 8, a screen saver window 801 is activated in the display 501 to block the display of windows 503-509 and background 511. In this case, the windows and backgrounds 503 to 511 are replaced by the display of a screen-saver window 801 having a mesh pattern. In the example of FIG. 7, three applications with nicknames 702 of “email client”, “word processor”, and “web browser” break the screen saver window as seen in table 700. It is specified that it is possible to slew (704). Priority alerts from these applications that are allowed to breakthrough are specified in column 706, "New Mail Notes" from the email client, the user is currently displayed in the word processor Includes a “Save Query” that asks if you want to save the document, and a stock alert issued by the web browser.

  As can be seen in FIG. 8, the notification window 803 breaks through the screen saver window. According to the notification window format 708, this email notification displays only the subject of the email, not the entire email. Notification window 805 is a password protected dialog box issued by a word processor. In this example, the “Save Query” alert 706 generated a notification, but the notification window format 708 specifies a “secure dialog box” format. Thus, the content of the notification issued by the word processor is not disclosed, but instead WMM 311 generates window 805 to indicate to the user that the word processor is requesting user attention. In addition, this notification window format requires the user to enter a password to retrieve the actual content of the notification event from the word processor. Finally, a notification window 807 was generated in response to the stock alert from the web browser. In this example, the WMM 311 generates a text message in the window that conveys stock alerts generated by the web browser according to the notification window format 708.

  In an alternative preferred embodiment of the present invention, application 319 (FIG. 3) implements a priority message screen saver window breakthrough function in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. An application such as an email client uses this feature by the window manager API to replace a particular message specified by application 319 with a screen saver window in a z-order display generated by WMM 311. To request. In the application, an option setting table similar to table 700 specifies priority alerts 706 that are allowed to be pushed into the screen saver window upon activation. In addition, such a table includes a notification window style 708 that is used to push a window into for this alert.

  Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown a flow diagram of an exemplary process used to initiate and set up the screen saver window breakthrough function of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Process 900 begins at step 902 and proceeds to step 904 to activate the screen saver window breakthrough setting interface. In step 905, WMM 311 automatically reads the interface (FIG. 6) with the nicknames of all applications currently running on the computer system. Thereafter, process 900 queries the user to determine if an application nickname is entered at decision block 906. If so, the user wishes to set a screen saver window breakthrough setting for additional nicknames of applications that will be executed in the future, and sets the nickname of the application as shown in step 908. Enter in the interface. Following either step 906 or 908, in step 910, the user specifies an application having a screen saver window breakthrough function within the screen saver window breakthrough setting interface. Then, in step 912, the user specifies an alert that is allowed to break through the screen saver window within the screen saver window break through setting interface. In step 914, the user identifies the notification style in the settings interface. The process 900 then ends at step 916.

  FIG. 10 shows a flow diagram of a process for providing a breakthrough of a screen saver window for priority messages according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Process 1000 begins at 1002 and proceeds to step 1004 where process 1000 remains idle until the system screen saver window is activated. Once the screen saver window is activated, the process 1000 proceeds to step 1006, where the WMM 311 continues to monitor display alerts generated and sent by applications running on the computer system. Upon receipt of such an alert, WMM 311 determines in step 1008 whether the application issuing the alert is authorized to break through the screen saver window with a priority message. If this permission is not granted, the process returns to step 1006 to wait for another alert and the screen saver window will continue to be displayed without interruption by the received alert. If the application is determined in step 1008 that breakthrough is allowed, as specified, for example, in column 704 of table 700, the process proceeds to step 1010, where WMM 311 has received from the application. By comparing table 700 to compare a particular alert with the alerts listed in column 706 for authorized application 702, whether the received alert is of a type that is granted breakthrough authorization Judging. If the received alert is not among the listed alerts, the process returns to step 1006 to wait for additional alerts. If the alert is listed in column 706, the process proceeds to step 1012 where WMM 311 determines the alert notification style listed in column 708 of table 700 for the received alert 706. Once the alert form 708 is determined, the process proceeds to step 1014 where the WMM 311 screens the display driver with a priority message delivered by the received alert using the determined notification form. Generates an instruction to be displayed at the top of the saver window. If the notification format is a secure format, the notification format requires that the priority message prompts the user for attention without the WMM 311 communicating specific information about the content or type of alerts issued by the generating application. To display a notification window that only alerts you to the fact that

  Although the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art can make various changes in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Will understand. For example, the present invention can be implemented using any combination of computer programming software, firmware, or hardware. As a preparatory step for implementing the present invention or for configuring the apparatus according to the present invention, the computer programming code (whether software or firmware) according to the present invention is typically a fixed (hard) drive, diskette, optical Stored in one or more machine-readable media, such as semiconductor memory such as disk, magnetic tape, ROM, PROM, etc., thereby producing a product according to the invention. A product containing computer programming code is by executing the code directly from a storage device, by copying the code from the storage device to another storage device such as a hard disk, RAM, etc., or , Used to transmit the code for remote execution. The method form of the present invention is implemented by combining one or more machine-readable storage devices containing code according to the present invention with standard computer hardware suitable for executing the code contained therein. can do. An apparatus for practicing the present invention may be one or more computers and storage systems that include or have network access to a computer program encoded according to the present invention. While the present invention has been described in terms of an optimal mode for accomplishing the objectives of the present invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate variations from these teachings without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. It will be understood that it can be done.

1 is a block diagram of a general-purpose computer system to which the present invention can be applied. It is a block diagram of the main components of the general-purpose computer system shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a user interface system implemented as part of or in conjunction with a software operating environment within an exemplary system. Fig. 4 shows an exemplary table of all windows according to a preferred embodiment. Fig. 4 shows an exemplary screen display provided by a table of all windows according to a preferred embodiment. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary screen display of an option screen for an individual window called “Create Breakthrough Settings for Screen Saver Window”, according to a preferred embodiment. Fig. 4 shows an exemplary table of security settings for window display according to a preferred embodiment. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary screen shot of a display that implements security functions for inactive windows, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary process used to initiate and set up security features of a display of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of a process for providing a breakthrough of a screen saver window for a priority message according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

702: Nickname 704: Breakthrough application 706: Priority alert 708: Notification window style

Claims (13)

A method applied to a data processing system comprising a display device,
Receiving an alert from a process that requires displaying alert information on the display device while a screen saver window is displayed on the display device;
Displaying a notification window indicating the alert over the display of the screen saver window on the display device. The screen saver window continues to operate to cover at least a portion of the display device during display of the notification window;
Including methods.   The method of claim 1, wherein the notification window indicates the presence of the alert without indicating the content or type of the alert.   The method of claim 1, wherein the notification window requests user authentication before the content or type of the alert is displayed.   The method of claim 1, wherein the notification window indicates the content or type of the alert.   The method of claim 1, wherein the notification window shows only a portion of the content of the alert. Determining whether the alert is of a type authorized to be displayed above the screen saver window;
The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying step displays the notification window over the display of the screen saver window in response to determining that the alert is of an authorized type. Determining whether the process is authorized to display on the screen saver window;
The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying step displays the notification window above the display of the screen saver window in response to determining that the process is authorized. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification window displays that a mail client of the data processing system has received a new mail. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification window indicates that a word processor of the data processing system requests a save query from a user. The method according to claim 1, wherein the stock price information received by a web browser of the data processing system is displayed in the notification window. A data processing system comprising a display device,
Means for receiving an alert from a process requesting display of alert information on the display device while a screen saver window is displayed on the display device;
Means for displaying a notification window indicating the alert above the display of the screen saver window on the display device;
A data processing system comprising: In a computer system provided with a display device,
Receiving an alert from a process requesting that alert information be displayed on the display device while a screen saver window is displayed on the display device;
Displaying a notification window indicating the alert above the display of the screen saver window on the display device;
A computer program that runs

Images